Thai Nine, Mosman

Last week my sister, Lou, was out from Beijing for just five days. For those who might be getting a little confused about all the sisters, here’s how it works; there’s Millie, then me, then Em, then Katie and Lou is the youngest.

The courtyard and entrance

For almost 10 years Lou has been living in Beijing so I haven’t seen a lot of her. During her five days in Sydney she managed to come over for a drink one night and then on her last night we popped up to Thai Nine, an obviously Thai restaurant in our local area.

Happy, smiling waiters

I love the setting of Thai Nine as it’s in a quiet part of Mosman, away from the main roads and opens up onto the courtyard of Mosman Square. The building has a lot of glass so you don’t feel boxed-in and the interior is modern and minimalist rather than being cluttered and over-crowded with nick-naks.

A cosy place to be on a winter’s night

There are a few traditional Thai features like this little elephant I found on one of the walls but overall, the Thai touches are subtle rather than jumping out at you in every direction.

Elephants bring good luck in Thailand

Another good feature of Thai Nine is that there’s plenty of space between the tables so your personal space doesn’t feel compromised and there’s room for all the things you might have brought with you like me when I unloaded an umbrella, a coat, a wine-carrier and a handbag. And that’s the other thing good thing about this suburban restaurant, it’s BYO.

Interior

Along with us that evening was a friend of Alfie’s who we’d picked up at after-school swimming lessons and he was staying the night. After he’d looked at the menu for a while I asked him what he’d like to order. ‘I’ll have a bowl of plain rice with some soy sauce on it’. That’s actually not one of the dishes on the menu but I’d say to take this boy out for dinner cost us all of about $3.00. He can come again!

A centrepiece

The rest of us started the meal with Taw Hu Tod; deep fried bean curd with a crispy outside and soft centre served with sweet chilli crushed peanut sauce. The bean curd was very softly flavoured but brought to life with the chilli and peanut sauce.

Taw Hu Tod $7.00

Next we had Fresh Rolls that were filled with avocado, pumpkin, carrot and shallot wrapped with rice paper and served with a tamarind relish. These were full of texture and flavour and I loved the tamarind relish that gave the rolls a delicate sour touch.

Fresh Rolls $9.00

This is a plate of Crispy Squid. I know Thai food is traditionally shared but Alfie just isn’t good at sharing so unlike his friend who was eating soy-flavoured rice, Alfie had this squid that was sprinkled with sea salt, pepper and mixed herbs and served with a mild sweet chilli lime soy sauce. Alfie loved this dish and the squid was light and crispy.

Crispy Squid $13.00

One of the dishes we always order when at Thai Nine is the Pa Low Beef which is slow-cooked beef shin with star anise, cinnamon and fresh herbs topped with mint, coriander and chilli lime salad. The meat always tenderly falls apart and the spicy licorice broth it’s cooked in is a wonderful tongue-numbing experience.

Pa Low Beef $18.00

We ordered a plate of wok-fried green vegetables that were vibrantly green and very crunchy.

Wok-fried vegetables

There’s always a couple of specials available and we ordered the crispy duck breast fillet topped with stir-fried minced chicken, holy basil, garlic and sweet chilli. This dish doesn’t present terribly well and it probably isn’t the best duck dish I’ve had at Thai Nine however, I did love the holy basil which is a herb that’s often difficult to source.

Crispy Duck Breast $25.00

Alfie’s main course was the Coco Prawn; fresh local king prawns set in an aromatic green curry, lightly flavoured with fresh young coconut grated flesh, served in a fresh young coconut. The dish looked better than this but it was picked apart by my little guy before I was able to take the photo and then he used his hands to try and put it all back together. But you get the idea! Alfie always orders this as he’s obsessed with food served in coconuts.

Coco Prawn $26.00

Our last dish of the night was a pad stir-fry of local king prawns with crisp snow peas and mushrooms in a tasty mild sauce. I didn’t have any of this but Lou really enjoyed it.

Pad Snow Pea $22.00

By now Alfie and his friend (who had finished his bowl of rice), were ready and waiting for dessert. They both ordered ice cream with chocolate sauce. I just don’t know why Alfie’s hands are so covered in food – he was given utensils.

Alfie’s ice cream and those hands!

Thai Nine serves traditional Thai dishes in a clean-lined and modern setting. The lighting is soft, the service friendly and the prices reasonable. Verdict: A great local find.

How wonderful having all those siblings. And thats kinda cool you have a sis that lives in Asia. Love the little elephant, I love elephants, even sponsor one. Dang that dessert looks really big, epic way to finish the meal. 🙂

I’m glad you gave us a little update on the birth order of your sisters. It must have been a real pleasure to welcome Lou into your home and to have that time after such a long separation. I’m sure she was delighted to see the children. The restaurant was obviously really special, but I must say that Alfie strikes me as really adventurous with food, given his age. You’ve obviously spent time exposing him to various cuisine and broadening his palate. My children would have been sitting there with bowl of rice, and I’m not even sure about the soy sauce!

It sounds like you had a great time catching up with your sister and enjoying some delicious Thai food. You’ve certainly done a great job raising Alfor not to be afraid of different cuisines, unlike mr. Plain white rice with soy sauce!
I love that you can BYO, how much do they charge for corkage?

This looks like a great dinner. The presentation is beautiful. I’m glad you were able to enjoy a good visit with your sister as well. I love that Alfie’s friend ordered rice and soy sauce. Sounds like something my Miss A would do (but then she’d want something off everyone else’s plates too). There must be something about boys their age that they forget to use utensils. I was just reminding Mr. N of that at a restaurant last night. 🙂

hahahaha!! Such cute kids, both the boys. I feel sorry for the other one, missing out on so much fun. I wouldn’t be surprised if he grew up and more than made up for what he missed out on. And awesome of Alfie that his palate is so varied. It’s always so nice to catch up with your sister. How does she like Beijing btw?

Growing up with 4 other girls in the house must have been ‘eventful’. 🙂 I’m glad Lou was able to spend an evening out with you on her visit.

I love all the dishes you ordered. The Taw Hu Tod sounds interesting. I’m not very familiar with Thai cooking but it’s a novel/flavourful way of serving tofu. (Have you ever tried the Chinese tofu dish, Mapo Tofu?) By the way, I would have shared my main dish but, like Alfie, my appetizer is MY appetizer. I’m always hungry at the beginning of the meal and rarely order apps so I’d want to enjoy every bite if I ordered one.

Is the other boy a vegetarian, fussy or does he just not like Thai food? My inquiring mind wants to know.

I love having a group of people when I go to a restaurant like this — one can order so many different things, and everyone gets a taste (well, I realize we won’t get a taste of Alfie’s!). Sounds like a great time. And thanks for clearing up which sister is which — I really was confused. 😉

How nice that you could have a catch up Charlie, my sister lived overseas for seven years and because of her circumstances I think we only talked on the phone about four times!
We’ve had the girls with friends who eat like that too. MiddleC’s bff is half Chinese, but refuses to eat Asian food at all. She comes over for Christmas and Easter to celebrate with us because we have traditional roasts 🙂 xox

How wonderful to catch up with your sister in such a nice environment. I remember dishes like rice with soy sauce. The youngest Glam Teen wasn’t keen on ‘funny’ food & the owner of our local Thai made a dish specialy for him that wasn’t on the menu. For years that’s all he’d order, wherever we went. It caused a few problems and there were a few bowls of rice and soy!! So, when’s your trip to Beijing?! GG

Wow your sister has lived in China for so many years now! Does she like it there in Beijing? You should plan a trip to go visit her 🙂 I live away from my family and sisters too so I know the feeling of catching up with them and making the most of the time we have with them.
Thai is one of my favourite cuisines so Thai Nine would’ve been a perfect place for me ~